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A portrait of slain separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko hangs outside the Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theatre on September 2.
A portrait of slain separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko hangs outside the Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theatre on September 2.

Live Blog: Ukraine In Crisis (Archive)

-- EDITOR'S NOTE: We have started a new Ukraine Live Blog as of September 3, 2018. You can find it here.

-- Tens of thousands of people gathered on September 2 in the separatist stronghold of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine to mourn a top rebel leader who was recently killed in a bomb attack.

-- Prominent Ukrainian historian Mykola Shityuk has been found dead in his home city of Mykolaiv, police said on September 2.​

-- Ukraine says it has imprisoned the man it accused of being recruited by Russia’s secret services to organize a murder plot against self-exiled Russian reporter and Kremlin critic Arkady Babchenko.

-- Ukraine and Russia are trading blame for the killing of a top separatist leader in eastern Ukraine.

-- Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the head of the head of the breakaway separatist entity known as the Donetsk People’s Republic, was killed in an explosion at a cafe in Donetsk on August 31.

-- The United States is ready to widen arms supplies to Ukraine to help build up the country's naval and air defense forces in the face of continuing Russian support for eastern separatists, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine told The Guardian.

-- The spiritual head of the worldwide Orthodox Church in Istanbul has hosted Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill for talks on Ukraine's bid to split from the Russian church, a move strongly opposed by Moscow.

*Time stamps on the blog refer to local time in Ukraine

13:22 21.9.2017

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A recent Apple ad featuring a Russian "cyborg" raised hackles among many Ukrainians (which is not really surprising given the symbolic significance of the term ever since the battle for Donetsk airport.) Here's how some of them have responded:

17:35 21.9.2017

17:37 21.9.2017

Meanwhile, in New York City:

18:42 21.9.2017

Here's an item from our news desk:

Trump Praises Ukraine For 'Good Progress' Amid Difficult Conditions

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko in New York on September 21.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko in New York on September 21.

U.S. President Donald Trump has praised Ukraine for making "good progress" amid difficult conditions sparked by Russia’s annexation of the Crimea Peninsula.

Trump met his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 21.

"I wouldn't say it's the easiest place to live" but "it's getting better and better on a daily basis. I do hear very good things. Ukraine is coming along pretty well," Trump said after a six-minute meeting with the Ukrainian leader, according to media pool reports.

Speaking in English, Poroshenko said he believed that the two countries had improved security and economic cooperation.

He followed those comments in a televised briefing by saying the two leaders had a shared vision on a "new level" of defense cooperation.

"We discussed all areas of this cooperation, including cooperation with the Defense Ministry and other institutions," he added. He did not say whether there had been any progress on a defensive-weapons initiative.

The United States has imposed sanctions on Moscow for its activities in Ukraine, including the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine between Kyiv's forces and Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 10,000 people since it erupted in April 2014.

Poroshenko said Trump supported a proposal to deploy UN peacekeepers "including on the uncontrolled part of the Ukraine-Russia border, which would prevent the possibility of penetration by Russian troops or Russian weapons."

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